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The water and its edges are good places to see birds; that’s the origin of this series.
The next six photos were taken in August 1997, almost 25 years ago. I post them now because I recently learned some new info, which pertains to the gentleman in brown (driving the boat and bearded and sunglasses) and his father, carrying the umbrella and US flag in the next photo, who claimed to own the island where we landed. Look at the photo and get a sense of where I might have been that day back in August 1997.
The building to the left is a lighthouse. The anchored boat above and the flag are clues. Where is this?
Yup, that’s me in a dark blind peering through an opening at . . .
puffins,
literally thousands of puffins. In those days I had a film camera, as did everyone, with very little if any zoom. I say that to underscore the fact that the puffins were on the rocks just beyond the blind. More on this place and my guides at the end of this post.
If you do FB, you may have seen this photo before, a young Cooper’s hawk. I took the photo on Long Island. Yes, it was tormenting a backyard bird feeder, which is how I saw it after it buzzed the feeder at speeds I’d seen no other bird flying.
Recently along the KVK, this heron landed quite close to me. It may have confused my cold, motionless form for driftwood along the shore there. Note the black crown and head plumes.
The specialized chest feathers seem almost like a cape here.
After several minutes of sitting near me, it raised its wings
and flew over to the Bayonne side… for better prey on the other side of the river, I suppose.
So here’s the puffin story. The boat was then called Chief. The owners stressed that it’d never been fished, and it was the conveyance by a puffin tour operated out of Jonesport ME by the Norton family–Barna with the beflagged umbrella and his son John driving the tender. The island is Machias Seal Island, a disputed “grey zone” US or Canadian territory. When I took the trip, Barna Norton, then 82 years old, said with utmost confidence that he owned the island, having inherited it by virtue of having been the first descendant of lobsterman “big” Barney Beal to bear his name. John, Barna’s son, was mostly quiet on the trip, leaving his long-winded but fascinating father to tell all the tales . . the helicopter incident, the dead terns, his 6’7″ namesake, and more. If you never read links on this blog, you must read this one . . . with the title of “The Man who went to war with Canada,” that man being Barna Norton.
A story not in the linked article that I remember relates to Barna’s son, John, again told by Barna. A border enforcer against all comers, John was noted in the USCG days in Alaska as having boarded a Russian fishing trawler at gunpoint to inform the captain of that vessel that they had been fishing in undisputed US waters.
All photos, WVD, who can’t vouch that tours on the island now via Barbara Frost, which might be Chief under new ownership, would be a Barna value-added added puffin tour, but the puffins (and their chainsaw-like sounds in a rookery) are a real treat. That link has a recording of one; imagine about 3000 puffins making that sound simultaneously.
Ontario here means the province and the lake. In the NE corner of the lake lies Picton and Picton Terminals, homeport of a tug called Sheri Lynn S. Well, Sheri Lynn S just got a big sister, and one place to start the story is in UAE, Sharjah a few months back . . . in August.
Captain Tjalling van der Zee, of van der Zee Marine Services was engaged to deliver the new tug Amy Lynn D or ALD, a Damen 3209 Shoalbuster, the 9414 nm from UAE to Lake Ontario. Capt. van der Zee shared most of these photos. Here is more Damen Shoalbuster info. The first part of the voyage mostly circumnavigated the Arabian peninsula. Having lived there for three years, I can imagine the heat topping at least 100 F.
Part of the voyage transited areas of “unrest” and armed guards were on board for any annoyances, but these folks were just fishing. Jeddah was passed on October 17.
This is a view from the wheelhouse northbound in the Suez Canal around October 20. Pilots were required. Any guesses on the total number of pilots taken on this 9400+ nm trip? Answer follows.
ALD passed Sicily on October 26 . . . . it had traveled light until Algeciras SP, where a barge Jacob Joseph C carrying three Damen tugs was met. The small tugs were to be delivered to Halifax and Montreal.
This is the view of the barge from ALD after traveling offshore following the Great Circle.
Azores Ponta Delgada was seen on November 14. By the way, any idea of crew number? How about daily fuel consumption? All answers to follow.
An ingenious “selfie” was managed, albeit with an unsatisfactory camera, when instruments showed ALD and tow crossing fairly near an eastbound ship.
Big seas were part of the experience.
The tow arrived in Halifax on December 6. Mac Mackay documented the safe arrival here. Thx, Mac.
Two of the small tugs, both Damen Stan 1205 class, were offloaded in Halifax.
The remaining tug arrived in Montreal, where
it was discharged.
To enter the Saint Lawrence Seaway, Jacob George C was put on the nose and
I’m not sure who took this photo, but I borrowed it from the Picton Terminals FB page. It shows the tug and barge easing into a SLSW lock.
On the last morning, Nathan Jarvis, working on Robinson Bay, took this of the homestretch as ALD and JJC passed Clayton NY.
And finally . . . ALD and Jacob Joseph C tie up at Picton Terminals.
Many thanks to Picton Terminals and Capt. van der Zee for use of photos and time. Any errors are mine.
Some answers, 25 pilots, 6 crew (1 Dutch/South African and 5 Filipino), and approximately 1200 gallons of fuel daily. Last but not least . . . 82 nights on the boat.
Guess the usage?
Avalon Sea is an AHTS vessel of the sort I’ve not seen call in the sixth boro. Any guesses on usage, age, and dimensions of the unit?
If it reminds you of the various semi-submersible vessels that’ve called here, great, because that’s what Boabarge 37 is. It measures 499′ x 125′ with a draft of 30′. She’s on long-term lease to the Irving Shipyard in Halifax. Avalon Sea is one of seven vessels operating for Secunda Canada, self-described as “a harsh weather fleet vessels serving Canada’s offshore gas and oil projects.” Avalon Sea measures in at 300’x 66′ and propelled by 15,500 hp. To see how Irving Shipyard uses Boabarge 37, check this out.
Point Chebucto is based in the Strait of Canso, but out behind her are two transients:
Behind her are Bylgia, a Heerema tug measuring 236′ x 59′ with 202 tons bollard pull, and Maersk Mobiliser, launched in late fall 2018 and 311′ x 82′ and currently tending craneship Thialf out by Sable island.
Here Bylgia is hooking up to 400′ x 125′ cargo barge H-407. For specifics on Heerema equipment, click here.
All photos thanks to Jack Ronalds. As I’ve said before, if you want to see some of them right now, click here for his Marine Traffic snaps and here for his general photos, not limited to maritime shots. The connection between the Strait of Canso and NYC’s sixth boro was highlighted in this post from a few days ago.
You saw a different version of this photo last week, NS Leader being assisted into Bayway. This begs the question . . . from where did NS Leader come? Where did it take on the cargo discharged at Bayway?
The answer for NS Leader and lots more crude tankers is Point Tupper NS, where there’s a NuStar Terminal. Maybe you’ve seen that on AIS.
Sailing a tanker from there looks a lot like here, although the Strait of Canso is quite a bit deeper than the Kills. That’s Eagle Varna, a VLCC, at the dock. Smaller Eagle tankers (AET) used to call in the sixth boro, as in here and here, although I don’t recall seeing them recently.
Here Point Chebucto and Point Valiant assist Suezmax tanker Eagle San Antonio.
Here London Spirit departs the dock
with Point Chebucto and Svitzer Montreal to port and Svitzer Bedford to starboard. NYK “Spirit” tankers used to call regularly in the sixth boro as in here, here and here, and maybe they still do.
Stena Weco tankers call in the sixth boro frequently as well: Stena Concert, Stena Contest . . . come to mind.
Here Switzer Bedford and Point Chebucto assist Stena Conquest
out to sea via the Strait. Svitzer Canada is a towing branch of Maersk with a network of hundreds of boats.
Many thanks to Jack Ronalds for these photos. More of Jack’s photos soon. If you want to see some of them right now, click here for his Marine Traffic snaps and here for his general photos, not limited to maritime shots.
Once US citizens are again welcome in Canada, I hope to make many trips, including one up his way.
Where was Doornekamp’s Sheri Lynn S heading?
Downstream on the St. Lawrence to assist USS St. Louis, LCS-19, as she was making a port stop in Ogdensburg NY.
Also assisting was Océan Serge Genois.
If this USN press release is current and accurate, other LCSs expected to exit the Great Lakes this year include USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (LCS-21), USS Kansas City (LCS-22), USS Oakland (LCS-24) and USS Mobile (LCS -6).
Now as seen from the US side of the River, standard procedure boom was deployed around the LCS by a workboat provided by Seaway Marine Group. More of this scene is captured in this article/photo from the Watertown Daily Times NNY360.
Once the LCS was boomed, the Seaway Marine boat patroled the exclusion zone.
Fifteen or so miles downstream from Ogdensburg, the Océan tug guides the LCS into the Iroquois locks.
All these photos from the Canadian side are compliments of Pat English, who posted a video on FB Seaway News Voie Maritime Info of the Ocean tug rocking back and forth to keep the LCS centered in the lock chamber. All photos from the US side are compliments of Jake Van Reenen.
Again, many thanks to Pat and Jake for use of these photos.
Previous tugster posts with LCS vessels can be found here. Previous posts at Iroquois lock are here.
I was doing maintenance in the photo archives yesterday and took a second look at some photos from Damen and from Picton Terminals. Since I know that Sheri Lynn S (SLS) arrived in Canada in Montreal in late fall, this has to be a photo of it being loaded onto the ship in Shanghai after traveling via the Yangtze from the shipyard in Changde, Hunan in China. Given that, the tugs in the background could now be scattered all over the world.
This photo shows the boat being secured to the deck,again in Shanghai.
After the ocean voyage between the photo above, SLS arrives in a port at the end of her voyage, and that port has to be
Montreal, given the blue tugboat here, Ocean Georgie Bain.
And now for a few photos from her current habitat on the NE corner of Lake Ontario, SLS breaks ice, sometimes . . .
enabling the cement ship to dock.
In fact, this time of year, ice breaking is her main activity.
Many thanks to Damen and Picton Terminals for these photos.
A picture is worth a thousand words, even if the picture is a video still and grainy. This picture launched a 1000 (actually about 1300) words, which you can read in the embedded link at the end of this post.
So, just the basics will be in this post, since the story is in the link.
It was cold and dark in early December when Sheri Lynn S cracked some new ice in departing from the dock in Picton ON,
heading into Picton Bay
to meet this ship . . . delivering steel from Korea.
Communications describe how the ship intends to dock, and
Sheri Lynn S accommodates the plan, crew on the tug here prepare to send a line up to the crew on the ship.
Once the ship Lake Erie is secure, the tug heads into the frozen area of the Bay
to tie up until the next job.
Here are some shots on Picton Terminals last summer.
Click here for the article I did on the boat, crew, and operation.
Many thanks to Picton Terminals for assistance. All photos except the video still at the beginning by Will Van Dorp, who will have additional news from Picton soon.
A friend who works on the Great Lakes sent me these next two photos recently. When I saw Anglian Lady in the foreground, my first thought was that I’d seen her myself but she looked somehow different. More on that later.
Anglian Lady was Thornycraft built and launched in Southampton UK as Hamtun, a 132′ x 31′ steam tug that operated for the company now known as Red Funnel. From there, it was sold to interests in Belgium and then back in England before being purchased by Purvis Marine of Sault Ste. Marie.
But the tugboat I recalled was not Anglian Lady. It was another distinctive tug by Purvis Marine below.
I was thrilled back in September 2017 when I got out in front of it here. Location? Some clues are the structures beyond the bow and the stern of this tug.
Avenger IV is the tug I recalled. She’s from Cochrane 1962, a former steam tug, 120′ x 30′.
The location? This is a dozen miles east of the Mackinac Bridge.
The PML website can be found here.
Many thanks to the Great Lakes mariner for the first two photos and for getting me to have a second look at Purvis Marine.
And the G-tugs in the background of the top photo likely include Minnesota and North Dakota.
If my post-entitling were consistent, this would be the twelfth post with pics from Mike. Of course, if it were differently consistent, this would be Lois M 4. Yes, 4 because of this post which would be Thanks to Jake . . . and a number. OK, I’ll stop with all the meta-commentary.
Nevertheless, Lois M is still in town, hibernating . . . you might say, waiting not so much for spring as for completion of the work on her barge.
To highlight her size . . . she ‘s 108′ x 35′ x 18’ and propelled by 4800 hp.
To quote the GLtugs site, she’s a “z-drive tug was built in 1991 by Matsuura Tekko Zosen of Higashino, Japan as the Lambert for Cleveland Cliffs-Robe River Iron in Australia.”
Note the WTC 1 beyond the stern deck and
the Empire State Building and Williamsburg Bridge beyond her here.
Many thanks, Mike.
Guess the vessel cut off to the right?
The tug is Lois M, on hold in Brooklyn for about a month already.
It turns out she came to GMD with barge Tobias for a haircut and a shave, and maybe some new paint.
After the shipyard work, Lois M and Tobias might be headed across the pond ….
Given the size of the graving dock, Tobias is a huge barge.
Many thanks to Mike Abegg for these photos.
And that bowsprit . . . it belongs to Clipper City.
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